MacBook Neo versus an old MacBook Air: good luck

My first thought erstwhile Apple announced the MacBook Neo today was “okay, but why not conscionable get an older Air?” If you’re reasoning that too, you mightiness beryllium right. If you tin find one.

The Neo starts astatine $599 pinch an A18 Pro processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB storage, and ends astatine $699 pinch the aforesaid specs positive TouchID and 512GB of storage. It has 2 USB-C (not Thunderbolt) ports, a beautiful basic-looking screen, a mechanical trackpad alternatively of haptic, and various different cost-saving measures. It’s the cheapest caller MacBook you tin get now.

The caller M5 MacBook Air starts astatine $1,099 pinch 16GB of representation and 512GB of overmuch faster storage, a bigger and brighter screen, a amended webcam, amended Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, much speakers, Thunderbolt 4, a faster charger, and truthful forth. It’s $100 much than past year’s model, astir apt because of the Neo. Or you tin get an M4 MacBook Air for $1,000, pinch a somewhat slower processor than the M5 (but still faster than the Air), and different beautiful overmuch the aforesaid specs.

If you could still get a caller M1 Air from Walmart for $700, it’d beryllium a beautiful reliable telephone betwixt that and the Neo. That instrumentality came retired successful 2020, but is still amended successful astir respects. Unfortunately, they’ve been retired of banal since past month — astir apt because of the Neo — truthful that’s the extremity of that. You tin astir apt find a refurb one. Same pinch the M3 and M4: if you tin find 1 for astir the aforesaid value arsenic the Neo, particularly pinch 16GB of RAM, you should get 1 of those. But they’re beautiful bladed connected the ground, and I’d expect them to go thinner. (Keep an oculus connected Apple’s refurb site, though — a refurb M4 Air for $750 is beautiful dang good.)

The modern Air is unquestionably a amended computer. The point astir $1,000 is it’s a batch much money than $600. $600 is already much than astir non-Mac group want to walk connected a laptop, but it’s a batch little than an Air, and the spread betwixt the 2 is large capable that it’s harder to warrant the jump unless you cognize you’re gonna request much than 8GB of RAM, if you’re ever gonna usage Thunderbolt, and truthful forth. I wouldn’t bargain the Neo for myself.

The Neo isn’t meant to compete pinch the Air, though. It’s aiming for the first-time MacBook buyer. It’s Apple trying to prime up the inexpensive Windows laptop crowd who are irritated by Windows. With its $499 value for education, it’s besides an effort to break the Chromebook’s stranglehold connected the K-12 market, to move iPad kids into MacBook Neo teens into Air adults. Heck, erstwhile it’s clip for my kids to move successful their school-issued Chromebooks, and I person to take betwixt a Chromebook, a Windows laptop, and a MacBook Neo for them? That’ll beryllium interesting.

And that’s really they get you!

I honestly don’t deliberation the Neo versus Air statement is going to beryllium that difficult for astir people, conscionable because astir group aren’t spending a 1000 bucks connected a laptop successful the first place. The processor’s astir apt going to consciousness astir the aforesaid arsenic an M1 Air’s, which is to opportunity accelerated capable for astir things. The toughest parts are going to beryllium figuring retired if you’re satisfied pinch 8GB of RAM (rough!), if you ever really request Thunderbolt (maybe not?), and if you attraction astir that fancy webcam (eh). If you already cognize the answer, you already cognize the answer. And you should astir apt drawback that refurb Air while you can.

A cynical portion of maine thinks this is Apple trying to get MacBooks onto the aforesaid upgrade rhythm arsenic its phones. If you bought the cheapest MacBook Air six years ago, it’s astir apt still fine. If you bargain the cheapest MacBook Neo today, is it going to consciousness good successful six years? Maybe! Or possibly you’ll determine you request to outpouring for an Air adjacent time. And up the chimney you go.